Prose Poetry Workshop

 

Poet CHRIS SALERNO is teaching an advanced prose poem writing course online this summer.

 

Here's how he describes the class:

 

"The prose poem is a border genre, a territory open to writers who often come to it from all directions. First used deliberately by poets centuries ago who rebelled against conventional poetic form, this genre has only swelled in popularity. In the right hands, a prose poem can offer the best qualities of both poetry and prose. Some offer the spontaneity of poetic imagery, metaphor and other figures of speech coupled with narrative elements, while others manipulate expectations of tone and voice within the subtle pasture of the prose block form.

 

"Russell Edson said, 'A good prose poem is a statement that seeks sanity whilst its author teeters on the edge of the abyss.' The prose poem often excites writers because of the opportunities to capture readers who may accept in a prose poem what that they might resist in formal poetry. The reader may expect the prose to inform and not sing, to be flat and not rhythmic, to be straight and not warped. As we will see, there is no single definition of this genre, which offers writers an abundance of freedom.

 

"In this course we will study the history of the form as both readers and writers, and we’ll also look at language as material to be shaped as we define what turns ordinary prose into 'poetic' language to be presented in the visual space of the page. To that end, we will trace the origins of the genre, but place special emphasis on how the prose poem is being handled today—what is happening now with the genre, and how might this inform our own writing?

 

"Students will write prose poems that evolve out of the readings and assignments provided. The teacher and students will respond to student writing with positive and constructive suggestions for revision. Texts: The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem, 2018, edited by Jeremy Noel-Tod; The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry: Contemporary Poets in Discussion and Practice, 2010, edited by Gary L. McDowell and Frank Daniel Rzicznek."

 

This three-credit class runs online May 24 - July 02. Tuition is approximately $750 per credit in-state or $1,161 per credit out-of-state.